As we anticipate the President's State of the Union address this evening, it occurs to me that we have strayed far afield of the context of representative government. Today the loyalty toward political parties has eroded the very fabric of our republic, and now threatens the very sovereignty of the nation.

The people we elect are given a privilege to protect the rights of their constituents, to take the people's voices to Washington so they may be heard by the rest of the nation. I never voted for someone so they can tell me what I need, or what they think I need. The same is true for the State legislature, which is also being threatened by an overbearing federal government, that is ignoring their Constitutional limitations and forcing all Americans toward a socialist society.

In the coming weeks, I am going to focus on what we need to do as a nation, with or without the support of the federal government. I am going to focus on how we can all use our State governments to nullify federal laws and mandates that are clearly in violation of Constitutional limitations. Perhaps even present the "evidence" that demonstrates the usurpation of our rights by a Congress that feels it has authority vested in it beyond the limits of our Constitution.

We are supplying foreign aid to nations that do not like us. We are contributing to charities to help people that have suffered natural disasters and the funds never get to where there are needed, instead they are being used by corrupt governments to purchase weapons that ultimately are turned on our troops and our tourists abroad.

We are purchasing goods that are made in foreign nations while corporations that make products are leaving the US and taking jobs with them. We buy more imports then we sell exports. No wonder, since we hardly make anything that consumers in foreign nations want or need.

We are spending more than we earn and borrowing from foreign nations to pay for it. We find fault with nations like China who promote industry and capital growth in their own nation as if their wanting a better life for their people is in itself detrimental to America. It is not! We need to return to the same free market ethics that made America the most envious and prosperous nation on the planet.

I feel that the very first step is to return America to a monetary system that is asset backed. We must get the Federal Reserve banking system out of our government and charge Congress with their Constitutional responsibility and obligation to the nation to coin currency and set the value of it. It needs to be Congress and the United States Department of the Treasury that determines the value of the U.S. dollar and its value toward other currencies around the world. And once America starts manufacturing again, once America farmers can sell their crops without subsidies and don't destroy crops to artificially inflate the prices, we will then possess reserves that can further back our dollar and prevent it from deflating or inflating.

Our tax dollars need to stay here in America to help Americans and not increase the wealth of banks and foreign nations.